29.9.13

NaMo's mega rally in Delhi


Although the local BJP leadership is mum on the expenses incurred on Narendra Modi’s rally in the Capital, the arrangements have all the trappings of a great money binge.
A state-of-the-art sound system, an innovative stage design, CCTV cameras for surveillance, 50 LED screens for live projection in and outside the venue, fifty 1,000-litre tankers for water supply and a chopper to ferry the man of the hour are just a few examples of the preparation undertaken by the Delhi unit of BJP, which, according to party insiders, has run up a bill of over 50 lakh so far.
But it doesn’t stop at that. In its bid to ensure an impressive turnout for the rally, the party has hired 100 e-rickshaws for four hours (from 10 am to 2 pm) on Sunday and asked the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation to increase the frequency of trains running on the Rithala (read Red) line. Nearly five lakh people are likely to attend the event.
The extravagant arrangements for the Sunday rally have already been questioned by the Congress and Aam Admi Party (AAP). AAP’s leader Arvind Kejriwal has asked BJP to disclose the budget and source of funds for the rally.


BJP’s poster boy and PM candidate Narendra Modi mounted a frontal attack on chief minister Sheila Dikshit and her government on Sunday. Addressing a huge rally at Japanese Park in Rohini, Modi mocked Sheila by calling her a “ribbon cutting” chief minister who shrugs off responsibility by putting blame on other agencies. And without mincing words, he went on to call her government as one “suffering from work-related paralysis”, and a “sharabi (drunkard) addicted to corruption and totally drenched in it”.
Modi, who reached the venue at 12 pm upon landing at a nearby helipad, lost no time in ridiculing Dikshit. “Sometimes I think if there is a happiest chief minister in our country, then it is the Delhi chief minister. From morning to evening, she has no work to do except for cutting ribbons. She does not have to worry about a host of issues that her counterparts in other states have to take care of, but still she fails to fulfil her responsibilities,” said Modi.
The Gujarat CM cornered the Congress-led Delhi government on various issues, including alleged corruption in Commonwealth Games in 2010, power and infrastructure, and Nirbhaya gang rape. The attack, in fact, started with the Nirbhaya incident. “When cases like Nirbhaya happen, then this chief minister (Dikshit) comes out with advisories, saying that ‘being a mother of a daughter I suggest women should not step out late in the evening’. She should not forget that she is not just a mother but chief minister of a state and she cannot get away by saying this,” said Modi.
Shifting his focus to corruption, Modi said Dikshit and her government touched new heights of corruption during CWG. “Our loss due to CWG was not just monetary but also of pride and reputation. When other countries like South Korea and China were given the opportunity to host international games, they made a global mark. We, too, had an opportunity to show our strength to the world, but under Congress rule we lost that chance completely,” said Modi.
He next attacked Dikshit on her failure to generate power from plants like Bawana despite spending crores of money on their construction. “Just imagine there are power cuts in the country’s capital city. Even the Prime Minister’s house has a generator back-up. Despite having plants with huge production capacity, the government cannot give ample power supply; not because there is no coal but due to lack of vision and foresight. All you need is a willingness to make them functional,” Modi added.
He also questioned the existence of departments like agriculture, irrigation or animal husbandry, which do not hold much relevance in an urban place like Delhi. “She does not have to worry about irrigation nor the problems of the fishermen. And if there are any potholes on the roads of Delhi, she puts the responsibility on the municipal corporation. If there is a law and order problem, she just has to say the police forces in Delhi function under the central government. She does not have any responsibility.”

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